FSU linebacker Nigel Carr arrested on burglary, fraud charges

Florida State University football player Nigel Carr was behind bars on Monday morning after he was arrested Sunday on several charges.

Carr, 20, faces two counts of burglary of a structure and one count of property damage, theft of a credit card and fraud. All of those charges are felonies, according to the state attorney's office.

He was arrested by Tallahassee police and is being held at the Leon County Jail on more than $15,000 bond. According to Tallahassee police, Carr burglarized a sport-utility vehicle parked off Hayden Road, across the street from Doak Campbell Stadium.

Police say Carr broke into the vehicle, a white Toyota, and stole a "book bag" that contained the victim's "purse and other items," including a sweater. Carr then allegedly dumped some of the stolen contents into a nearby dumpster.

In addition, police say Carr stole the victim's credit card, which an officer located on the floorboard of a white car that Carr was allegedly driving. Further, police say Carr is the suspect in the burglary of another vehicle near the Florida State campus. In that burglary, police allege that Carr broke into a vehicle on Saturday and stole a checkbook.

According to police, the first victim discovered both the items allegedly stolen from her Toyota SUV, as well as the checkbook, which had been reported missing, in a dumpster near the vehicle Carr allegedly drove. Police say video surveillance shows a black male, fitting Carr's description, throw "something into the dumpster."

Carr, a junior linebacker, appeared in all 13 regular-season games in 2009. He was expected to be a starter during the 2010 season. It's unclear what discipline Carr will face from the school.

"He had been doing great," Fisher said. "And we'll just, like I say, we're going to wait and let the courts run [the case]. I'm not going to make any statements about him … if it's a felony, then he'll be suspended. That's school policy.

"And then we'll let it run its course and see where that takes us. Then we'll comment on it after that."

According to the school's website, Carr "has set new standards of excellence with his work ethic and accountability on and off the field and is poised for a big season after earning most dependable honors among linebackers at the conclusion of spring practice."

Teammates told the Orlando Sentinel last month they thought Carr had the most positive attitude under a new coaching staff. Carr was expected to compete for the starting job at weakside linebacker but Fisher said Monday that Mister Alexander, a senior, would have likely entered the preseason the starter.

Carr also made non-football related news when Walt Disney World in 2007 permanently banned Carr and three other black Florida State University football players from visiting any of the company's theme parks after officials accused them of loitering in the parks.

Under pressure of accusations of racial profiling, Disney officials revised their decision and only banned the teens from visiting Downtown Disney for a year.

Andrew Carter of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Bianca Prieto can be reached at bprieto@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5620.